Realistic or Modern PROJECT: MAGICAL WARRIORS (IC)

[Lord Moldoma]

A solemn knock arrived on the safehouse door. It was preceded by the sound of squelchy, wet steps, each one sounding like someone who had been walking barefoot in something sticky like soda or some sort of pasty substance.

"H-Hey..." The voice was followed by a slurping sound. "Th-This is the place you told me about back in containment right?" The voice sounded sickly, like a girl with a cold. It was followed by a sniffling sound.

The gentle creak of someone leaning on the door spoke to the fact that this person was probably struggling to stand up. "Siby..." The voice asks again. "It hurts... I used too much of my energy fighting Grizzly... P-P-Puru says that-.. That I-I need something sweet to eat s-so my body can recuperate..."

 

[ERode]

Lily_G Mirai-chan​

The look that Swallowtail gave Kuma was almost sympathetic.

Almost.

But artificial partners were artificial, their personality quirks and judgment all ultimately rooted in the machinations of the Dark Site. Whatever trouble the magical mascot was going to suffer through once Grizzly re-emerged from the shell that was 'Azusa' was none of her own concern. For now, it was enough that Executives understood once more how incompetent their methods of testing were, how unstable and unreliable it made their best soldiers and how incredibly motivated it made their traitors and rogues.

With any luck, they would find someone else to handle that slime. Perhaps an ice-based magical girl, to render the malleability of Gigapudding's form meaningless. Perhaps a rot-based magical girl, to simply melt through that organic substance nicely and cleanly. Perhaps...

Because certainly, it'd be the height of stupidity to send this trio of magical girls after the pudding monster again, no?

She let out a sigh, placing a hand in a vaguely consolatory fashion upon Azusa's head. It was weird, that they were the same age. It was weirder, that Azusa was even a bit taller than her. "It's good enough work. Under those circumstances, it could've been worse." She paused, allowed her companion's magic to weave itself into her mind. "And that was the bear that I sent to track Scarlet further. Let me guess here: she's stopped somewhere close to an abandoned district? Close your eyes and tell me what it sees."

Scattering, only to re-unite in a pre-determined location. She could imagine the rogues coming up with an idea like that. Brought to mind once more, who had planned this for them. Who had the freedom to be outside and pick out a good enough hideout.

There were plenty of things that ought to be brought to mind, but the breaking of silence cast all such things aside once more.

And there were many girls in the Dark Site that had dark hair and glasses, but if this was the one she was thinking about, then Swallowtail could not let her be. Seriously, what the fuck was the Dark Site doing, letting all their premium powerhouses loose? She clicked her tongue, then sprung into action as well. Untransformed, Alexis had no chance of escaping Swallowtail, distance closing within the span of two heartbeats. But she wasn't the target either. Springing past the retreating girl, Swallowtail reached out and tore Vermillion off her shoulders, an amalgamation of fur and claw, shadow and sinew holding the artificial partner in place.

Holding Vermillion hostage.

"Forgive me," Swallowtail said remorselessly. "If you could stop running away, that would be lovely."

Her grip tightened over the pudgy little critter, constricting serpentine.

 

[Faynorae]

♡ "The Love of Love, Radiant, Dazzling and Swift!!" ♡​

Interactions ~ Negev @Kikimura

"Huh?" The boy let out, as Negev suddenly disappeared. Well, he thought she disappeared. In fact, she had actually hopped right over him. Adonis was a bit dimwitted so he wouldn't have noticed if it weren't for Negev's retort. "Wow!" He exclaimed, brightly. "How quick! I must say that I find myself impressed!" Adonis said with a cheery tone. "There be no terms and conditions within the field of battle! We must fight with this environment in mind!" He replied, with a gleeful expression, smiling with genuine happiness.

He flinched as Negev suddenly surged forward. Adonis twirled his lance, and as Negev closed in he quickly did his best to block her attack with it. Struggling a bit, as he was pushed back quite a bit, he then retorted with a mad push. Adonis shoved Negev backwards, spinning his lance back firmly into his hands. "My opponent is strong~♪ but with Love burning from my heart, I hath not a single doubt I can fail!~♪" Adonis bombastically spoke, as he readied himself.

Wings fluttering and gleaming with light, they spread out wide as they dazzled brightly. Adonis soared up, flying up a few meters. He spun his Lance and pointed it toward Negev. "✧ L'amour d'amour éclatant! ✧" He shouted enthusiastically, as the tip of the lance once again glowed in pure white. Adonis then dashed from the sky, diving down to attack Negev from above at an increasing speed, wings fluttering and sparkling with wind underneath.

 

[KAmber]

Leigh Sullivan -- Blue Diamonds.
[blank slate precipice.]

Drip. Drip. Drip.

The IV isn’t useful for Blue. They could eat, they don’t need any medication. They don’t like the feeling of anything under their skin.

The hospital isn’t useful for Leigh. They don’t have any health issues besides the obvious — the radiation and the missing eye. Blue Diamonds took care of both of these. Shortening DNA didn’t do anything, but it did remind them that they had a life to live.

It didn’t make them weaker.

Blue Diamonds’ weakness was a concept. Just like death, or fear, or laughter. It didn’t exist in the world — it was only a function of the way that world was interpreted.

They didn’t deal with interpretations directly.

Drip. Drip. Drip. There’s bloodstains in the hallways, there always are. Scratches on the floors from children scrambling away. The screams, the pain. The hospital wing doubled as a conversion center, new recruits before they turned into monsters. Vaccinations, tracking chips, the works.

Leigh’s transition was passive. Their medical records were intact — they’d had each vaccine twice as many times as they needed it. They didn’t flinch when the tracker was planted into their empty eye socket. At least it wasn’t under their skin.

Drip. Drip. Drip. Tears in eyes across the world. Drip. Drip. Drip. Saline drops in a cerulean ocean. The death and the noise and the feelings all stayed under the surface. They’re interpretations, after all.

Blue Diamonds didn’t like the feeling of anything under their skin.

They wander the halls, it’s the least they can do. Some people recover, some don’t. They stop moving, even if they don’t die. They stop, and they never recover once the wounds are more than skin deep.

This place radiated suffering. But Leigh Sullivan was more than immune to radiation.

 

[Severia]

While Scarlet was looking away after freeing herself from the sudden hug, the culprit kept staring at the healing magical girl. Back when she met untransformed Blythe at the facility, Wingy didn't even bother saying a single world to him. A quick glance was enough to tell that befriending, or even introducing herself to that boy in that state would be utterly pointless. But right now, despite her seemingly cold reaction —which was perfectly understandable given what Wingy did— there was definitely a change.

“And..my name is Scarlet.”

Wingy's face which still had some bruises left was filled with joy. She then extended her hand in order to grab Scarlet's and shake it, but then pulled it back midway.

"Ah... That must be hurt right?" Wingy looked at the wound on her new friend's arm. "Thanks again! My wound hurts a lot less now. Um... Scarlet is your codename right? Can you tell me your real name? I don't like calling each other by codename even after we have escaped from them. It just... doesn't feel right. Oh hey! I still have some chocolate I got from Doc this morning! Wanna have some? Speaking of Doc, Sib, where is she. And Jules too? Also—"

An incessant barrage of questions, typical of a living ball of energy known as Wingy. If left as is, she could even put an actual ADHD kid to shame. Fortunately, there happened to be something that could stop her.

"Repairer. You would've met my partner, Castaigne in the forest earlier. Your generous donation of magical energy was much appreciated, Twinkle. And Sirius."

Following Sib's answer to her previous question, the 'scary guy with a mask' introduced himself. Seriously? The moments Wingy 'killed' that man, his body reacted a bit. It was an insignificant change that could easily elude someone like Sib and perhaps unbeknownst to even Repairer himself. But there was certainly a reaction. So he could even sense a suppressed murderous intent like that? Either she didn't do something like this for a while and was sloppy and made a mistake, or that guy's just something else. Looked more like the latter. Wingy concluded after glancing at Sib to confirm that she didn't make any mistake.

"That's our line. It's true that Wingy gave you almost all her energy back then, but your help back in the forest was still much appreciated. Repairer and Castaigne. If possible we would like to—"

So that mask... that Artificial Partner's name was Castaigne? Her partner might or might not have this knowledge, but this was certainly the first time Wingy had heard of it. Sirius said that to Repairer in his usual no-nonsense voice, but knowing him, that guy's probably brimmed with mixed emotions right now. After all, it's not everyday you see someone like the Repairer in person and get an opportunity to do something like this. Wingy mentally grinned as she thought of possible faces that man would make when hearing what she was about to say.

"Hey Siri." Interrupted her partner with a lower voice than usual, Wingy continued. "Who let you decide about that?" Thanks to Wingy's control over a star-shaped object, including sentient one that could fly on its own, Sirius was abruptly pulled backward, away from Repairer. The girl then turned her back to the masked man.

"I have no intention to work together with someone like that."
What the fuck are you saying!!?

As expected, Sirius immediately retorted. Wingy knew what's he planning. In fact, she was aiming to do the same; forming a temporary alliance and closely observing Repairer. His characteristics. His abilities. What he would do and what he could be aiming for. However, with her back turned to the masked man, the girl slowly walked away from him.

"Even after I have said my name, there is still a bastard stubbornly calls me by this filthy codename the Dark Site gave me!" That cold and angry voice was thrown at her floating partner, but it was clear who was that anger being directed to. "Sib! We DON'T need him! Let's—" As Wingy was saying that in a sharp voice

"P-Please wait a minute! Wingy!!"

Sirius hastily flew and stopped in front of her.

"We are going against Dark Site and countless magical girls here! Refusing to cooperate because... regardless of the reason, it is a bad idea!! We really need to work together! Please! I beg of you!!"

So he did receive the message. If Wingy really wanted to shut her partner up and decide it by herself, she would never lift her control and let him fly back to her like this. Sirius's action wasn't something they had discussed, but it was exactly what she wanted.

"Guess it can't be helped then."

Wingy turned back to the Repairer. An extreme act of compromise, considering that a lot of people had seen Wingy ignored whatever a Dark Site staff had said until that poor guy had to give up and address her with her nickname. But with an 'I beg of you' from her partner, giving up on her usual antics here didn't seem that out of place.

"I don't know who you are or how come you don't think calling yourself something like a 'Repairer' is lame, but the fact that you introduced yourself with it means you still can't cut ties with the Dark Site where you got that codename from."

That particular line also served as an explanation to Scarlet as to why Wingy was asking about her actual name. The short girl continued.

"Who knows, you could even be a Dark Site spy sent to infiltrate us. What will you do? Sending this location's coordinate to them? Or wait for tonight and capture us all at once?"

Wingy said the first part with absolute naturality, without anything strange to be observed. After sarcastically listing Repairer's possible actions, she then crossed her arms.

"Point is, I absolutely can't trust someone who hides behind some lame codename like you. The least you can do is... that's right. Tell us your real name, and maybe remove that mask."

What are you, a Chuunibyou? The girl had made enough friends who were originally kidnapped from Japan for that line to naturally came to her mind and being stopped the last second before it was said. Even if Sib had wanted and agreed to work together with him, with Wingy's codename being involved, it's clear that if he wouldn't do as he was told then a chance for them working together would be zero.

"Also the next time I hear you call my codename, even if I'm a weak magical girl not suited for combat, I will definitely beat you to a pulp!! Got it!?"

Wingy who still had a bruised face and recently closed wound on her thigh declared that while pointing her finger at Repairer's face. It definitely sounded more like a childish, empty threat where the speaker didn't have enough skill to achieve what she had said. However...

... Are you for real? I know how good you are, but challenging him without learning more about his abilities is definitely not a good idea!!

Wingy wished for the millionth time that she could telepathically speak back. While she was trying to look menacing, another magical girl had unexpectedly arrived at the scene, in the most horrifying way one could imagine.

"G-Giga!!?["

Despite saying a lot about these filthy codenames given by the Dark Site, Wingy would never call this particular magical girl by her civilian name. Not the current one, nor her previous one.

Wingy abandoned her intense confrontation with Repairer and ran toward Giga with the most speed her healed leg could afford.

Fighting Grizzly... It seems that GGEZ earlier was used against this girl.

Yeah. Since Wingy rescued five captured magical girls from GG without giving them much time to escape, the chance of that bear girl running into one of those five again was high. Among them, there were only two who could warrant a GGEZ. That robot girl whom even Sirius didn't have detailed info thanks to her being a secret project of another Executive, and the other one, the magical girl of mochi who was in such a miserable state right now.

Still, how could she even be here? Judging from how Scarlet reached this place alone, they didn't move in group. And if a powerful move like GGEZ [70] was used, then based on our record Gigapuddin should have used up all her energy just to defend against that. Escaping from Girlish Grizzly in that condition while she is alone should not be possible.

Wingy reached her friend faster than anyone else. Indeed, Giga's state right now was a result of using too much power. Based on what Sirius had been blabbering in her mind, it should happened right after that GGEZ. But if that's the case, then there's no way that crazy bitch would let her victim who had spent all power escape all the way here. The only valid explanation was that GG could not give chase. And there were two possible causes leading to such scenario.

The more likely cause was another magical girl or girls coming to Giga's rescue. But if that's the case, then there was no reason for her saviors to abandon the mochi girl and let her travel here alone. Without any need to ask, Wingy had already deemed that cause as impossible. And once you eliminated the impossible, whatever remained, no matter how improbable, must be the truth.

Which mean that, the truth was GG was threatened and forced to stop giving chase by none other than Giga herself. More magical energy than expected was Wingy's regular slip-up when observing other magical girls' powers, but what happened between Giga and GG couldn't stem from that reason alone. Output, as in, what she could do with her powers. If she was even hiding something like that—

"Hey!! Are you okay!!?"

While letting her thought run wild, Wingy had nothing but concerning and worrying look on her face. Remembered what the escaped girl had said about something sweet. The pink girl gave her partner a short, meaningful glance. Briefly after that, she inserted her hand into her pocket.

"Here! Is this chocolate good enough? I planned to eat it together with that girl over there, but you can have it now!!"

The only one who could tell that it was not the chocolate bar Wingy received this morning would be the Doc herself.

withinasapphire LostHaven Nellancholy Lord Moldoma

 

[Lord Moldoma]

“Nya nya! That’ll do!” Her Gada, Pururin responded.

Giga managed to raise her hand to take the bar of candy. She unwrapped it and crushed it in her hand before generating an equivalent amount of mochi in mass by expanding her palm. And then eating the small glob of mochi.

“I need to go sit down for a bit.” She says, leaning on her Gada’s head before using it similar to a walking stick and sitting over on one of the walls.

This did provide a good in-field example of what happens whenever a magical girl was overloaded and didn’t do everything in their power to moderate themselves. Though it was more than likely that she would’ve died from overexertion if she hadn’t pulled out, it had to be noted that she very well could’ve put the hurt down on GG.

Zoe did take notice that Wingy didn’t refer to her by either of her names, but by her code name. She didn’t know Wingy personally or recall being teamed up with her at any point, so It was a bit suspicious that she’d know her by that name since she also never recalled herself being personally informed of any non-team members code names. But, she was too weak to bring it up to question, for now and even then, it was good to be suspicious of anyone who came from Darksite that she didn’t know.

“I can turn sugary foodstuffs into mochi. I was running out of it, so this’ll hold me over until I can eat something like a gallon of fruit punch or A wedding cake or something… I… overestimated my level of power and accidentally started feeding into my bodily mass…” she says looking solemnly at the ground.

“I have most of all of my crucial organs back right now, but I’d much prefer if you could get me some more sweet stuff later so that I can get back the rest of my liver and kidneys.”

 

[Nellancholy]

"K-keep your mementos." Sibylla gestured as if to push Repairer's hand, holding the retrieved Magidrive away. But she didn't actually touch him. To Sibylla's expansive but fairly specific knowledge, there was no practical use for a Magidrive that had been retrieved from a magical soldier that had already been...terminated. Well, aside from rendering it down and using the raw materials to make a new one for a different...candidate.

For the moment, she chose to ignore his insinuation about what he could do "for" them in the event they get captured again. For all his assistance so far, his was still a malevolent nature. And even if she did accept, this alliance was a tenuous one.

It was just as well, as yet another girl staggered in, soon to be attended to by the ever-effusive Wingy.

"Giga..." she echoed the name quietly. No, she did not know her. But the fact that she was here to begin with meant she had likely escaped from one of the bases in the region as well. Some strange goop seemed to be issuing from her, and Sibylla's first instinct was to wipe it off. But then again, it seemed like she needed it. The forthcoming explanation did make that abundantly clear. Great. If she was to keep fighting alongside them against the rest of Dark Site, they'd have to take her needs for fuel into consideration. The logistical concerns were starting to add up.

"Um, Giga." She stood just a little closer in an attempt to be reassuring. "I'm glad you're alright. We'll do our best to get you what you need. And if it's alright, I have some questions for you. Did you escape with anyone else? Names, abilities, what they look like. Anything helps. We're going to go look for them and bring them back. And...did you see that explosion in the forest earlier? Any idea what could've caused it?"

The least they could do was gather proper intel so they didn't end up attacking any of the escapees. Or fooled by any of the pursuers. And of course, there were quite a few explosions that happened in the forest this morning. But the one she was talking about was pretty hard to miss.

LostHaven Lord Moldoma

 

[withinasapphire]

Scarlet visibly flinched when she noticed Wingy’s hand moving, extending towards her. What was she doing? She took one step back, moving her hands over her arms, her eyes carefully watching the girl’s hand.

But the girl pulled her own hand back. Scarlet looked at her hand for a moment longer, before her eyes moved back to the girl’s face. ..She looked happy.

The girl was looking at her wound. Scarlet looked at the wound as well with slight indifference, she’d momentarily forgotten about it. She’d been focusing on everything else she’d been feeling that any pain from the wound became more like background noise. For her, pain hardly felt new. Wounds didn’t feel new. She’d received many of them, in a variety of ways. Dark Site had made sure of that, in their search for the limits within a healer. So this one wasn’t anything special.

“..It will heal..” She responded when the girl mentioned that it must hurt. Perhaps if she poked at the wound with her dagger, drawing a little more blood by digging inside, she could get it to heal at an even faster rate. The blood could flow over the wound on her arm like an incoming wave.

..No, she needed to use her blood wisely. Saving as much as she could was important.

“What..?” She was blindsided by Wingy suddenly asking for her real name. The only ones who had often referred to Scarlet with her real name, even when transformed, were her sisters. She struggled to answer as she processed the girl’s words, even though the answer should probably be simple. She didn’t belong to Dark Site anymore, so..not using codenames would make sense. Right?

“But..I’m..” Scarlet looked conflicted. Saying her real name..in this voice, in this body..it felt odd. Even though she could recall her name, she couldn’t get herself to say it. She didn’t know why. So she trailed off, not saying anything else as she looked away again. She heard the mention of chocolate, but didn’t respond.

Scarlet got wrapped up in her thoughts. What was wrong with her? She..knows her name. She does. So why couldn’t she say it?

Her brain turned like gears, trying to come up with an answer on her own, when she suddenly caught sight of multiple, colorful heart-shaped lockets that were in Repairer’s possession. Are those..magidrives? She froze as she took in the sight, horror in her eyes. She felt sick. She could only think of one reason as to why he would have those and how he got them.

Scarlet felt like her own blood had run cold and a shiver went down her back. She couldn’t look anymore, or she might actually get sick.

“Y-You can keep them..” She said, unable to keep herself from sounding thoroughly disturbed. She wasn’t going to let herself think too hard about his other comment. She couldn’t. It was a road she didn’t want to go down, even though she’d walked down it many times before.

She was surprised by the arrival of another magical girl, jumping a little when she heard a knock at the door. Worry overcame her when she saw the state the girl was in, she certainly didn’t look to be alright at all.

She watched Wingy tend to her, slight relief flooding through her. She had been a little worried that she was another girl in need of healing, but it seemed like her blood wouldn’t be needed here.

..That was good, as she probably wouldn’t be able to use any more at the moment, not after the amount she’d given for Wingy.

She could only hope there wouldn’t be any severely injured magical girls knocking on the door next. She didn't think she could give another big amount of blood so soon.

Severia LostHaven Lord Moldoma

 

[LostHaven]

Repairer

Abandoned Store | "Your 'quarrel' with this girl is killing me." "Just hurry up and die, then."​

Ah, it seemed that their distrust in Repairer was deep. How could they just fully trust in this mysterious person, who as far as they knew, was a 'trusted' agent of the Dark Site? "You're right. Perhaps it is a blessing for most to not remember," he remarks. The lockets ring against each other as the Repairer retracts his hand, and places the half-dozen or so 'trophies' back into his coat pocket.

He turns his head back toward the (fake) artificial partner Sirius and the Magical Girl, Twinkle, and sighs internally. As expected, this girl was going to be an obstacle. It would be even worse if the Executive behind the star-shaped 'familiar' ordered Twinkle to assassinate him. Could he win, if she were to abruptly attack him? The answer wasn't exactly difficult. Probably not. The Dark Site's evaluation of this one wasn't high, but that was exactly what was suspicious. She had 'donated almost all her magical energy' to Castaigne earlier, but still had enough to use 'Starlight Punisher', which she could apparently only use once before becoming completely exhausted. The math just wasn't adding up, leaving the most probably conclusion.

She was probably far more capable in a fight than he could imagine. It was simply that she, or somebody else, didn't want others to know that.

If one were to compare this to a game with certain 'rules', Repairer was the frail, vulnerable 'back-line' whilst Twinkle could probably erase him off the pages of history the second she got on top of him and breathed in his general direction. She was a hindrance. A huge unaccounted factor that could turn all his plans all topsy-turvy. And most importantly, he couldn't predict her. Unlike the rest of them, traumatized, emotionally scarred, unstable, this one was unreadable. He could see well enough - that she was wearing a 'veil', and he had a good guess at what was behind it. But that was it. He had a very good idea at what was behind the veil, but he couldn't see it clearly. Should he deal with it quietly? This girl didn't know the full extent of his abilities. Nobody did, but for some reason, trying to fight this girl seemed like an extraordinarily bad idea. Not that engaging anyone in combat was a good idea for Hildred.

No, there was a better way to deal with this. And it involved the man behind the star-shaped artificial partner. Well, that'd come later. "I... don't have a name." He wasn't exactly lying, per se. If 004 were to dig for information within the Dark Site's classified folders, they'd find that the name of a certain 'survivor' from a certain 'project' had been expunged. "But, you may call the same name as my Partner does: 'Hildred'." Next, he reaches toward the mask clasped over his face, and slowly pulls it off, ignoring Castaigne's protests in his head. With the ominous black mask gone, Hildred looked far less threatening. At least Hildred himself thought that his face wasn't particularly threatening.

"Alright, Wingy, then," he says, smiling. "I'll be sure to remember it. I couldn't do anything about it if you were really to beat me to a pulp, after all. You may be unsuited for combat," bullshit, "but I'm afraid that I'm even more so." He nods toward his cane as he speaks. It wasn't there purely for show, he really wasn't very physically able. "You don't need to trust me. I'm not doing this out of pure goodwill. I've also got some personal motives for doing this." He makes a quick and subtle glance toward Wingy's 'familiar' in particular as he accentuated the 'also'.

He would have continued to... 'subtly' throw a threat or two out at the man behind Sirius, but his attention was soon drawn toward yet another arrival. A rather wet and unpleasant one at that. Hildred observes as Gigapuddin' enters the safehouse, exhibiting severe symptoms of MP exhaustion. His first thought was to offer some of the tablets he had on hand, but he decides against it at first. After all, just the fact that he had them could hint at a crucial weakness of his. After a short deliberation, Hildred pipes up again.

"The mushroom cloud was probably caused by 'Girlish Grizzly'. A monster amongst monsters, that one. Apparently, there were a number of escapees other than your own group. Even with your group of pursuers fleeing, the forest right now seems to still be a hotspot of Dark Site activity, given recent 'happenings'. I'd suggest locating the rest of your friends rather than waiting idly. I could send Castaigne back to find your friends."

withinasapphire Nellancholy Severia Lord Moldoma

 

[Severia]

"But, you may call the same name as my Partner does: 'Hildred'."

In her mind, Wingy grinned victoriously. Learning that name meant she did a better job than whatever Sirius was planning. The girl kept crossing her arm with an angry face as Repairer... as Hildred continued.

"Alright, Wingy, then. I'll be sure to remember it. I couldn't do anything about it if you were really to beat me to a pulp, after all. You may be unsuited for combat, but I'm afraid that I'm even more so."

Bullshit. Wingy felt an urge to retort but managed to hold herself. There was no way someone who could sense that minimal amount of bloodlust could be bad at combat. Perhaps physically, yes. But to say that someone like him could do nothing would be a sick joke. What's more, something told her that this guy knew more than he let on. The way he talked and looked at Sirius was not the way a magical boy would treat an insignificant Artificial Partner of someone else. The girl thought about what she had heard from her partner earlier. Since this man was doing particular 'jobs' for Mr. Zero and sometimes single-digit Executives... a mental-related ability? If that's the case then all she needed to was executing her attack before his mind controls could take effect. However, for some reason Wingy couldn't be at ease. For the magical boy who had such a unique job and position, was mind controlling the only thing he could do? Nah, there's definitely...

Without letting any of that show on her face, Wingy then turned away from him.

"I'm glad you're alright. We'll do our best to get you what you need. And if it's alright, I have some questions for you. Did you escape with anyone else? Names, abilities, what they look like. Anything helps. We're going to go look for them and bring them back. And...did you see that explosion in the forest earlier? Any idea what could've caused it?"

Wingy knew the answers to every questions Sib had asked. And considering her relationship with Azusa-chan, she felt like she should at least answer that one easy question.

"Ah I think it's—"
"The mushroom cloud was probably caused by 'Girlish Grizzly'. A monster amongst monsters, that one. Apparently, there were a number of escapees other than your own group. Even with your group of pursuers fleeing, the forest right now seems to still be a hotspot of Dark Site activity, given recent 'happenings'. I'd suggest locating the rest of your friends rather than waiting idly. I could send Castaigne back to find your friends."

Hildred interrupted her. Exactly, that explosion was GGEZ [70], a killer move belonged to Azusa... to Girlish Grizzly alone. Mushroom cloud... shouldn't that be seen only at GGEZ [100]? Welp, that guy talked like he had seen it, and between the data Wingy had and a testimony from an eyewitness, it wasn't hard to pick what to believe.

"I agree with what he said. I also encountered another squad while escaping here and based on what their squad leader bragged there was around-"
Thirty-two
"-thirty squads of magical girls being deployed in this forest. I don't know if we can trust his words, but since that guy didn't think I could get away when he was saying that, I don't think it was a lie. With that number if we choose to stay here they will definitely be discovered and recaptured. Now that it's decided, let's head out right away!!"

Wingy concluded without asking anyone. While it was a public knowledge that she was weak in combat, the girl was known to be rather smart when it came to making plans, as evidenced by how she was among the magical girls who came up with this grand escape plan that gave chance and hope to everyone. As such, what she was about to say should hold some weight, at least to Sib.

"The best plan would be for all of us to split up and go help as many of our friends as we can and bring them back here. I know it sounded more dangerous than moving in a single group, but—"
"Hold it, Wingy."

Sirius who floated by Wingy's side suddenly spoke up. To be more precise, he spoke up after receive a sudden gaze from Wingy.

"You are still injured. If you go out alone you might get yourself captured by one of those thirty squads."

As expected of that guy. Just by glancing at him, he knew what sort of situation Wingy wanted to create. He also occasionally gave Wingy a head-up with telepathy, and with simple gestures from her that could be distinguished between yes and no, what he would say became exactly what she wanted.

"The same goes for Scarlet and Gigapuddin, who still require some time to fully recover after overusing their abilities. They can't go out by themselves"

Gigapuddin, a magical girl whom Wingy had no chance to personally get close, but had heard a lot from Azusa who instinctually befriended cheerful people in order to cope with her own trauma. The pink girl glanced at Giga's face when Sirius said her name and confirmed her suspicion from earlier. That mochi girl strongly disliked the nickname she gave her without asking. Perhaps a hatred toward her codename in general? But didn't she hate being called by her civilian name? While Azusa didn't seem like the type to randomly lie, Wingy had no chance to verify that statement yet. Let's see...

"Um... Giga? I have heard of you from Azusa-chan. I thought you don't like being called by your real name so I gave you a nickname based on your codename without thinking. But looks like you don't like it either... I'm sorry!!"

Of course, with Zoe having 2 civilian names and GG didn't mention anything about that to Wingy back then, such misunderstanding was bound to happen and it was beyond her understanding. If anything, the short girl apologized with a well-trained frown, lowered eyelid and downward gaze that make it easier to sympathize with. And above all, she didn't forget to pin a blame on the magical girl she knew for sure was the cause behind the mochi girl's miserable state earlier.

"So... how should I call you?"
"Are you even listening to me, Wingy?"

Sirius who was kind enough to wait for Wingy to settled her matter with Zoe's nickname pulled her back to the serious discussion with a cold voice displaying anger.

"The three of you are not in your best conditions, so I don't think separating—"
"I know we're still recovering, but that's not an excuse to chicken out and abandon our friends!! They might suffer a much worse fate if being captured by any Dark Site squad. So what's wrong with my plan where we take a bit more risk but can help a lot more of them!!?"

Wingy raised her voice against her partner, who then immediately yelled back, leaving no opportunity for others to interfere.

"So you don't care what will happen to yourself if you get captured!!? Because it will surely happen!!!"

It seemed like Wingy wanted to say something, but she couldn't and ended up gritting her teeth helplessly. Both of them had solid reason behind their points, making it awkward to root for any side. After a long silent, the floating star then broke it with a calm and solemn voice. It's clear that he wouldn't take no for an answer.

"... Two. If you split up into only two groups with each group having someone in a perfect condition, namely Vanguard and Repairer, then I can accept it. How does that sound?"
"That's it!! We're going out in two groups!!"

Suddenly, the pair that were intensely arguing had came to an agreement. When there was a large group of people deciding on something and there was a violent clash between two contrasting opinions, what came as their 'compromising option' would automatically become the group's general consensus, so long as there was no side losing too much from that option. While it was a rather advanced psychological trick, such thing would never escape someone like Hildred. Well, it didn't matter even if he did know and didn't fall for it. With everyone else's mental state in their current situation, it would be considerably hard for them to do the same. And if everyone else agreed on her plan then the guy who tried so hard just to work together with them wouldn't have much choice.

"Hey, Siri. Who should I go with?"

Wingy gleefully said that. To others it might seemed like she was glad after being allowed to go out and help her friends.

"Why don't you wait for the other two to pick first?"
"Alright! Hey, Lettie!!"

After hearing that suggestion, Wingy then turned to yet another girl who had fallen prey to her nickname first, ask later policy. Actually, she had asked Scarlet about her actual name, but that girl hadn't answered. Considering her background, it was an expected reaction. And since Wingy wasn't suppose to know her civilian name, a nickname based on codename was her go to solution.

"Who will you go with?"

Based on what she had seen how this girl looked at Hildred earlier, Wingy really didn't need to ask...

LostHaven Nellancholy Lord Moldoma withinasapphire

 

[withinasapphire]

Scarlet had been nervously observing the exchange between Wingy and Sirius, gently squeezing her dagger between her hands. They were going to split up..? But that seemed dangerous..in her eyes, moving together in one group seemed safer. There would be more people to help if they got in a tight spot.

How would..she be able to help if her group got caught, when she's not at her best? What if she got caught..?

She can’t..go back..

“..Huh?” Scarlet felt her face redden as Wingy suddenly addressed her with a nickname. She’d been on the receiving end of differing nicknames before in Dark Site, but none of them were usually very nice. This one, though.. “You’re..referring to me?”

Her face got a little redder at the thought. It was a little embarrassing, but it felt nice too.

“Um..” She pondered over Wingy’s question. If they were really doing this..if she had to pick someone..it would just have to be Vanguard. She looked strong, reliable. Kind. She cared about others, she had seen that in how she reacted to Wingy’s wound. She seemed to have a good head on her shoulders too. Considering that, she was someone that Scarlet would feel okay putting her trust into.

Hildred, well..her trust in him had already plummeted in just the short while she’s known him. Seeing those magidrives that he just happened to have cemented the bad impression she had of him. There were..so many. Too many. She didn’t want to get added to his collection.

“If it’s okay..could I go with Vanguard?”

Severia Nellancholy LostHaven Lord Moldoma

 

[Mirai-chan]

With Swallowtail getting there faster than she expected, she was afraid, as she was ahead of her screeching to a halt, as fear showed directly on her face. Vermillion let out a squeak as he was snatched, Accidentally adding another scar on Alexis's shoulder and ripping her sleeve with his tiny claws. Vermillion was held tightly as he struggled to get free, as the grip tightened around him hurting the little guy."Alexis! Run!"He exclaimed. She looked at her Partner and then at Swallowtail with much fear, She was stuck between running or staying with her but she had another choice, a Choice she really didn't like and it was to become beast again and save her buddy.

Sighing contently as she grabs her magi-drive, She didn't want to do this in the first place but if it had to do with saving her little buddy and escaping with much-needed imitation brute power, Knowing that beast will utterly not hesitate on giving these two injuries in the process and much more area/Collateral damage. Clinching onto her Magidrive, she lets all of her negative emotions flood out fear, anger, and mostly hatred but that's mainly aimed at Dark Site. Dark energies flooded out of the device in a very rapid manner as it covers her outfit as shifted to something more combat-oriented, More darkness seeped into her body forcefully as she lets out an inhuman scream in pain as her appearance changed more of a cross between a human and a mix of some creatures imbued. The transformed magical girl fell forward with a slouch as her glasses disperses into fragments of light, Vermillion knew that once she activates her MagiDrive, Alexis isn't herself as a much darker side of her is revealed since she's much more of a ruthless being with murderous instincts in this form Hence the name Beast. she rose her head upwards looking at them with anger in her eyes as she bares her sharp teeth.

She cracked the knuckles of her claws as she slowly stepped forward at Swallowtail's direction."Give me my Partner back... Or else."She demanded coldly. A Dark aura loomed over this magical girl, giving her the air of a monster wanting to kill this is a way to show her imitation as it was recorded in Dark Site's files about this sort of move, Which as it shows as an early warning to give up before she pummels you.

mentions: ERode Lily_G

 

[KAmber]

Leigh Sullivan -- Blue Diamonds.
[blank slate precipice.]

They’d heard, of course.

Not heard, but seen. Medical charts were a serial number and a name. Names were a fabrication anyway, but they tended to mean something.

Rose. She was herself. Her performance was her life, and the beauty of that simplicity carried thorns all the same.

Not heard, but seen. Blue could see the beepers that the doctors wore, the radios that the guards had, the information scattered in the air and made manifest in their devices.

They could see the matter. They could see the energy. If the glasses came on and the eyepatch came off, if Leigh took the time to focus, they could reason out the way the pagers vibrated or the radios changed frequency. But it needed them to tune everything out. Block noise, and read out what was *meant* by what they saw. It was a simple process, and that process applied just as well to humans as it did to machines.

Five foot four. Pure white, soft cotton scrubs. They’re comfortable, they’ve been through the wash so many times that they’ve lost all color. A cotton patch over one eye, hair swept on an uneven part.

Leigh Sullivan walks into the room. Just Leigh. Just a child. They carry a hooked stand, the kind that would hold an IV drip and roll with the patient, but they don’t have one. The gait is even. Assisted. Even if it’s not needed, they prefer it this way.

They leave it by the door, walk unassisted to a table full of trauma gear. Forceps, scissors, gauze and rags. Sweep one heavy arm across it and scatter the tools to the side. They hop up, creasing the rubber floor, and settle down over cold hygienic metal. Stare at Rose, at her bed, one eye with a placid, cool gaze.

“Why do you care?”

Gundam Watcher 27

 

[Lord Moldoma]

"Um, Giga." She stood just a little closer in an attempt to be reassuring. "I'm glad you're alright. We'll do our best to get you what you need. And if it's alright, I have some questions for you. Did you escape with anyone else? Names, abilities, what they look like. Anything helps. We're going to go look for them and bring them back. And...did you see that explosion in the forest earlier? Any idea what could've caused it?"

Zoe looked to Sibylla. "There was one, but, I didn't catch her name, and she didn't show me any of her abilities, but they did try to take a hostage to force my hand so I called their bluff and continued my assault." Zoe says. In truth, she had little to go off of for Cinderella. Since they didn't have time to get acquainted with one another "From what I could make out, she'd probably had an adverse reaction to the magical girl transformation process, and was having an emotional breakdown. I couldn't understand anything she was saying, but she was constantly speaking in this really frantic voice and kept on gravitating towards the topic of her own self-harm."

"The Explosion was an attempt by Girlish grizzly to eliminate my improvised super-move: Mochi Giga-Gigantor." She says. "My partner, Puru, advised me that due to a sudden influx of power, in combination with my sync ratio, I would be able to produce enough mochi to integrate the surroundings into a titanic humanoid."

"Puru says they overestimated my body's desire to live." She explains. "They assumed afterwards that whatever gave me that boost was a complete fluke, and they didn't actually look into it since in the moment we needed absolute power. They say they're sorry for assuming that I have any real use in combat against someone like Grizzly." She looks down at herself, since to be fair she probably only had herself to blame for not being born with the privilege of naturally being as strong as GG.

"I didn't say that..." Puru responds, frowning.

"Mm... Maybe that was just me talking to myself... I felt out of body whenever we were doing a lot of that..." Zoe says. "I do have problems when I'm out of my normal form..."

"You mean your transformed form?" Puru asks.

"Yes." Zoe says, sighing. "I fucking hate this meat prison that quote on quote 'God' put me in. But that's a rant for another time." Her body did seem to be gradually returning to normal consistency, but maybe that wasn't a good thing, since she clearly had some serious self hate issues.

"Um... Giga? I have heard of you from Azusa-chan. I thought you don't like being called by your real name so I gave you a nickname based on your codename without thinking. But looks like you don't like it either... I'm sorry!!"

"I go by Zoe. Mythril is my deadname, and I don't wanna be called a name that Darksite gave me... Also... How'd you know about the nickname thing?" She asks. "Are you an empath or something?" She was suspicious because of that claim too. The sudden insistence on laying out which name she preferred, and that she didn't like being called Giga nor her name Mythril. "I'd say that it's possible if you're an empath via your abilities... Except for the fact that those kinds of powers don't work on me... And I know that for a fact..."

 

[Gundam Watcher 27]

Rose
How long had she been out? She couldn't tell, even after her dream ended. She only knew that as soon as she opened her eyes, she saw doctors hovering over her. They seemed to be doing some tests, to make sure she was healing up nicely. Rose had a slight urge to create a storm to blow them away, but she felt weak.

Right, she got injured in the mission, and she might have died if Inessa didn't intervene. As soon as the doctors left, she sat up, as tears ran down her face. Her tears were those of both guilt and sorrow. She couldn't take anything back, not now, not ever.
Rose softly spoke to herself.

"I'm forever going to be living as a pawn, with my own sisters death haunting me, aren't I?" ​

“Why do you care?”

Rose heard a voice. She looked to her right and saw a person with an eyepatch over their face.
She looked back down.
"I have no way to escape my situation. I have no other choice but to keep fighting.... my life is hell."
She then looked at the person again.
"And you are...?" ​

 

[KAmber]

Leigh Sullivan -- Blue Diamonds.
[blank slate precipice.]

...Huh.
Resistance was the more common approach. They expected it, they assumed it. Blue Diamonds was bad news -- it meant someone, somewhere, wanted you to sit up straight and bend the knee. Leigh found themselves at a bit of a loss when people asked questions that mattered. Said things that were true. Set themselves up against them.

Their eye pierced straight into her, even when she wasn't looking.

“...”

If she wanted to know. Without moving -- no visible Magidrive, no transformation sequence -- the drab one in front of her shifted to a boldly palleted revenant, unblinking. Tassels spill out and engulf the table. A Geiger counter in the corner of the room starts clicking ever so slowly.

The table groans under the weight of another two hundred pounds.

"I'm vague. I'm blank. People see what they want in me."

The change ebbs as fast as it flows, and they're back to normal. Unimposing. Leigh Sullivan is human enough.

“You're strong. It's not about you. Hell is outside of the body. That's life.”

Gundam Watcher 27

 

[Nellancholy]

Sibylla could at least breathe a sigh of relief as both Wingy and Zoe proved to be in...competent, if not exactly perfect shape. Scarlet had drained herself a fair bit to get Wingy back on her feet, but she was still standing. This was where they stood: already beaten and tired, having to form an uneasy alliance with someone who knew far more than they did, and was acting in his own interest. Sure, Sibylla trusted him not to betray them. He wouldn't have to show himself if that was the case, and he could have used his powers to make short work of them with Dark Site's usual tactics. Simply leading them straight into the other group of pursuers, trapping the rogues between them and Rose would have been enough.

But that didn't mean the rest of the rogues had to like it.

Wingy, surprisingly, proposed the idea of having the group split up as they searched. Certainly, the time had passed for sitting and waiting. It was time to gather the rest, the pained and terrorized and prepare to face what would come.

In an open fight, there would be safety in numbers, provided everyone involved was at least minimally capable of pulling their weight.

But when it came to hunting someone down...small groups were a far better tactic. They could go unseen longer, and could avoid engaging the likes of GG.

Sibylla sat on the windowsill, allowing Telos to swoop down and land on her shoulder. She clenched her mostly-replenished Magidrive in her hand, preparing to transform.

"A-alright, Scarlet. You can come with me." Scarlet seemed to still be frail, and her abilities in combat were questionable. Perhaps she was kept around mainly for the undeniable utility of her healing powers.

"Zoe, Wingy. Any preference?" She flicked a cautious glance at Repairer. "If Repairer's to join the search, we shouldn't leave him unprotected."

"Which is to say we need to keep our eyes on him." was the implication.

withinasapphire Severia Lord Moldoma

 

[Gundam Watcher 27]

Rose
The person she was speaking to had transformed. Rose's expression didn't shift, but Rose understood this person was like her, and anyone else who had been abducted by the dark site.
​

"I'm vague. I'm blank. People see what they want in me."

"In other words, you're nameless."
She replied, watching the person return to their previous form.

​

“You're strong. It's not about you. Hell is outside of the body. That's life.”

Rose had to laugh. This person definitely knew who she was. They had a point though.
Rose layed back down, turning her body to face away from him, a hand under her pillow to help her rest on it.
It really wasn't about her, and life really was hell.

She was feeling sad again. Perhaps the person could see into her own heart and understand the pain she went through. It would explain the reassurance of what she said to herself earlier.

"... I messed up in the mission. I couldn't succeed in capturing the rouges. Failing in my mission... I know I'm going to be punished when the overseer of the Dark Site hears about it."

​

 

[Lily_G]

“It's good enough work. Under those circumstances, it could've been worse.” Azusa took that as an affirmative and proceeded to hit the ‘send’ button on her phone. Now they had publicly lost their achievement of ‘the only squad who managed to recapture some Rogues’ but if that let the Executives understand the situation and possibly dispatching some backup as she requested then it’s all good. A headpat from Yu-Ri was unexpected, but not something she disliked. “And that was the bear that I sent to track Scarlet further. Let me guess here: she's stopped somewhere close to an abandoned district? Close your eyes and tell me what it sees.” That explained it. Azusa then closed her eyes and connected her sensory with that bear right away.

The first thing Azusa saw was a building in the distance. Based on what she heard, Scarlet should have entered that building. The bear circled around the building from a very high altitude, making sure that the building only had one entrance and that the bear wouldn’t be seen by anyone in or around that building. While doing so, she caught a glimpse of an unfamiliar magical boy at that only entrance. “ I saw a building. Based on the direction it should be Beecham district.” Azusa reported to Yu-Ri. “ Scarlet should be in that building and I just saw another Rogue entered there.” It was too much to be a coincidence. Seemed like the Rogues had communicated somehow and picked that place as their meeting spot. “Wait there is one more now. It’s...” Sure enough, another Rogue had entered the building. This time an injured short girl whom Azusa was pretty close to.

So she is also a Rogue... Azusa made a saddened expression. First it was Zoe, now even Wingy… Zoe who was resilient enough to escape from her was one thing, but Azusa took note to not transform when she attack that building. At least not until she managed to capture Wingy and confine her somewhere else. That sweet girl isn’t ready to face her destructive side...

“Azusa!” Kuma warned. Azusa immediately pulled her senses back and saw Yu-Ri engaged another Rogue. While GG in her transformed state tended to use brute force and raw power to overwhelm her opponents, Azusa was actually smarter and had deeper strategies in how she control that limited number of bears. She also put a lot more focus on following order rather than having fun with her opponents. With 2 bears each staying at the building and near Adonis, Azusa was left with 8 bears to fight this opponent and support Swallowtail. “Give me my Partner back... Or else.” From behind the girl who just finished saying this, a flying bear could be seen rushing at her. Even in her civilian form, all the bears Azusa could summon retained their enhanced speed and strength, and so the chop that was aimed at the back of the Rogue’s neck could cleanly knock her out if she couldn’t do something to dodge or defend against it. “I’ll handle that guy. You can go apprehend her.” Regardless of whether that attack would succeed or not, Azusa said that to Swallowtail and had one of her Magical Bears approached Vermillion, hugging it tightly. With a bear taking over her job, Swallowtail was now free to engage the Rogue in close combat and look for an opportunity to knock her out and put a Magic Binding on her. Not only that

“Listen! I can do something like this!” Five bears appeared and flew away from the group before exploding themselves. The strong wind and intense pressure could be felt by all three magical girls who were standing at least a hundred meters away from that explosion. “If you don’t want your partner to meet the same fate as those trees, then revert back and abandon your magi-drive at once!” Azusa said in a gentle yet serious tone.

ERode Mirai-chan

 

[KAmber]

Leigh Sullivan -- Blue Diamonds.
[blank slate precipice.]

“Not nameless,” Leigh says. “But names aren’t just me.” They give a rare smile, then shift in place. “Words work well enough. They still make people think you don’t have substance.”

Leigh shrugged. If they were putting on a performance, it was gone now. They slide back on the table, lift their legs and bundle knees to their chest. There’s something… small about them, especially in this form. No frills. No game. One being engaging with another. Blue Diamonds hesitated to describe themselves as human.

A laugh. It’s nice to hear human sounds in this place.

The conversation’s drawn to Zero. Punishment was never what worked on Blue, but then again, they never felt the need to resist. Rose had a need to fight, and so she kept a well of hurt. It dug her hooks into her, but that kept her grounded.

Leigh wasn’t social enough to try and soothe that. Not directly. Still, they could talk — they could try.

“That’s a worry. It’s ahead of you, not in front of you.” They cock their head slightly. “I thought you’d be angry.”

Gundam Watcher 27

 

[Gundam Watcher 27]

Rose​

“That’s a worry. It’s ahead of you, not in front of you.” They cock their head slightly. “I thought you’d be angry.”

Rose had a hand tighten round her shirt. She was angry, but she couldn't do much to show it. Not when she was weak from the engagement she had lost.

"I... have always been angry. I've been angry at the dark site, at Vanguard, at Inessa, but more importantly.... I've been angry with myself."
I spin around in my bed, my head facing the person there.
"I've always been weak, and I've always tried to hide it.... but what really made me hate myself, over everything else in the dark site.... it was killing my own sister."

They could see tears in her eyes.
"I could have gone against them and let myself die instead, but I didn't do that. I killed my own sister to save my own sorry self. I am not a Magical Girl. A Magical Girl would have let herself die to save my sister."
There was a name that describes someone like her.

She was a traitor.​

 

[KAmber]

Leigh Sullivan -- Blue Diamonds.
[blank slate precipice.]

Leigh seems… unperturbed. Their expression doesn’t change, their gaze doesn’t falter. They listen intently, but don’t do much more than that. There’s a process.

They don’t know if there’s a better process than that. Tiny currents of electricity move through Rose’s mind, shaping the noise into signal. Matter and energy. The concepts…

Bodies are different. Bodies are unknowable. It wouldn’t do Blue any good to start staring into Rose’s head — only she could do that. The best they could do is talk.

It’s a poor intervention.

“Anger is directionless. It pushes against whatever it touches. You’re just closest.”

They breathe in. They breathe out. The Geiger counter continues ticking.

”There’s pressure there. You’re not only angry. You don’t push against everything.”

Tears. Hate. They can’t do much about that. Leigh thought she’d be unhappy to see them, even if she didn’t know them. But Rose let her guard down instead. The anger wasn’t directed towards them.

“... You’re in pain. I’m caring.”

Gundam Watcher 27

 

[Gundam Watcher 27]

 Rose​

“... You’re in pain. I’m caring.”

Rose was at a loss as to what to say. They were right about her being in pain, but to actually care about what she's feeling? Why would they even wish to comfort her? Rose had always felt that any magical girl who served the dark site was an enemy, someone she had to keep her guard up against.

But was it really true? She thought about the people who went on the mission with her. She never made an effort to know any of them, but she remembered the discussion they had before attacking the Cabin. It was almost like they were good friends, but Rose felt it was just an act. But if it was an act, how come Inessa did everything she could to ensure she survived to fight another day?

Rose turned her back to the person and spoke.
"I'm sorry. Please leave me alone for a while."
Rose said, her voice unusually quiet. She felt her tears flow more, and even though she herself felt like she was all alone, her heart knew that she really isn't. Even if they don't show it, there are a few people at the dark site who really did care for her.​

 

[KAmber]

Leigh Sullivan -- Blue Diamonds.
[blank slate precipice.]

Their shoulders rise, then fall. It's a sigh, it's a shrug, it's an admission of detachment — reluctant, no matter how subtle.

Leigh didn't mind silence, it came easily. They let Rose sit with herself and set in to listen. Even if she didn't plan on talking.
It didn't last long, nothing does, but still it was a moment spent. They found themselves fine with it, honestly — it was simple.

“You didn't hurt me. I don't mind. I don't need apologies.” Blue grips the table, slowly sliding themselves off. “This didn't make anything worse. Not everything does.”

Leigh touches down, hits the floor with a two-inch thump betraying their weight and a rattle. They wheel and walk past the door, lingering for a moment.

“I'm here often.”
It's a simple statement. Leigh hopes it means enough.

One eye stays on her, through the wall, even as they exit.
It was nice to be on the inside, at least for a little while. They almost felt human.

Gundam Watcher 27

 

[Lord Moldoma]

"Whichever group thinks they can find me enough foodstuffs to regen faster is the one I'm going with. I don't want to spend any more time cooped up in here than I already am." Zoe's desolate eyes looked to her hand which she managed to just barely transform slightly into a yellow paw-like growth resembling that of her magical girl form, before it retracted back to normal. "Fuck…” she mumbles.

”Be careful not to overtax yourself Zoe!” Pyururinyan-tan says. “If you try and take in much more energy, you might just end up hurting yourself!”

“Sh-shut up!” Zoe says, starting to itch at her neck, pushing upwards before falling back against the wall.

She looks defeated, with a desolate expression. “This damn body isn’t strong enough… I fall apart too easily and I can’t protect the people I need to… fuck…”

“I failed as a talentless human, and now I’ve failed as a magical girl…”